Winston T. Puppy, RIP Options

[wchamilton]

We have three dogs... Winston (the one who died), Miya and Takoda. Our morning routine is when they get up we hook Miya outside on a run to go to the bathroom, then Takoda, then Winston. When we hooked Takoda out the door didn't close all the way and when she was ready to come in her lead was long enough that it let her push the door open and as soon as she did that Winston took off.

He couldn't have been outside for more than a couple of minutes; all three of us were in the kitchen when my son saw the front door open and Winston gone. We got our shoes on, grabbed a couple of biscuits and went to get him when we saw Takoda on her lead staring up the road and not moving. We looked where she was looking and Winston was lying on the side of the road.

We we got to him he was still breathing but not answering to his name or looking around. The person who hit him, as well as the people who lived in the house whose yard he was in were all outside when we got there. I picked Winston up and told my son to get a blanket in the car. The person who hit him came up to me and said he was sorry... when I asked if he hit him he very quietly said yes. I told him it was an accident and carried Winston to the car. When I got there I put him in the car, left a message with my vet's emergency number and got ready to go when the person who hit him came up to me, gave me his home and cell number and told me if there was any vet bill that he would pay it. I told him I appreciated that, got in the card and headed to the vet while Johnathan sat in the back seat with Winston.

He seemed to perk up a bit on the way there... he looked around a bit, would perk his ears a bit when you called his name but after a couple of minutes of that he put his head in my sons lap and, as my son pet him and told him what a good dog he was, he died before we got to the vet. I called the vet and told them that Winston didn't make it and brought him home. We buried him in our back yard, lying on his dog bed, covered with the blanket he was lying on and the t-shirt my son covered him in, a rawhide chew and biscuit under his paws. We lined his grave with a small picket fence and made a grave marker for him.

We're all torn up about this, but especially my wife. That dog was her soul-mate. When we adopted him in 2006 we had just bought our house and we found out after we adopted him that he had pneumonia in both lungs and was severely dehydrated and undernourished from being so sick. The vet said she couldn't even promise he'd live through the night, but Sue stayed up with him all night, thumping his chest to keep the phlegm loose. He recovered and turned into the best damned dog we EVER had. He was protective of us but would let people approach him, as long as it was apparent it was okay with us. He would come into wherever we were sometimes and kind of make a little grunting noise at us, tail wagging, and we'd say "show me what you want" and he'd lead you to whatever it was, be it a slice of leftover pizza on the counter or to snitch on one of the cats or other dogs for being in the garbage. My son and I taught him Hawk Dog... you could hold your forearm out, as if you were waiting for a trained hawk to land on it and say "Hawk Dog, Winston!" and he'd stand on his back legs and put his front legs on your forearm.

He was an incredible dog and even with the two girls still here the house is just empty without him. My wife told me last night the only thing for her that could've been worse than losing Winston would have been losing me or our son.

RIP, buddy. We gave you four of the happiest, most love-filled, spoiled years that any dog could ever hope for.

I also have a question I hope I can get an objective answer to... to those of you that have lost an animal companion in this manner, how long did it take you to come to terms with your grief? I've read a bunch of websites that say things like "everyone is different" and what-not but I'm hoping for some real-world answers from real people. I know that only 48 hours removed from Winston's death I can't expect to be over this but I'd like to know what people's experiences are.

[wchamilton]

I felt better this morning when I woke up than I have since this happened. My wife and I talked about Winston on the way into work and both actually shared a couple of tentative laughs at some of his antics.

What I find now, thought, is that I'm obsessing about his grave site. We could only dig maybe 2-3 feet down because of how rocky the ground is. I THINK I've taken adequate precautions to keep his grave from being scavenged. There's a 1' high picket fence around the grave and 12"x12"x2.5" paving stones that completely cover the grave and extend about 6" beyond the actual grave; each stone weighs 23 pounds and there's 18 of them laid side by side, 3 rows of 6 stones.

When I talked to my Dad last night he was concerned that we'd find that grave dug up someday and strongly suggested I find some friends or see if my vet can suggest someone that would come take Winston to be cremated, preferable while we weren't home, but the thought of disturbing him kind of turns my stomach. In hindsight, had I been thinking more clearly, I'd have continued to the vet to have him cremated but I just can't bring myself to disturb his rest.

So I guess my question is this... is there anything else I should do to secure his grave? Someone on another website suggested a layer of chicken wire, covered with dirt. Someone else suggested planting onions and garlic around the grave, and yet another person suggested pouring vinegar around the grave. As far as animals around here, I honestly don't know what lives around me. I'm in a rural area but not isolated in the country; I have neighbors on either side of my house and I don't think I've ever seen dead foxes or coyotes on the roadside, but again, I can't help but worry about this.